Edith Cowan University Research Online Theses : Honours Theses 2009 Memory for music and the implications of expertise for music recall: a review ; Memory for the recall of popular songs: a comparative study of musicians and nonmusicians Simon MacLachlan Edith Cowan University Follow this and additional works at: https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses_hons Part of the Cognitive Psychology Commons Recommended Citation MacLachlan, S. (2009). Memory for music and the implications of expertise for music recall: a review ; Memory for the recall of popular songs: a comparative study of musicians and nonmusicians. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses_hons/1107 This Thesis is posted at Research Online. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses_hons/1107 Edith Cowan University Copyright Warning You may print or download ONE copy of this document for the purpose of your own research or study. 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Higher penalties may apply, and higher damages may be awarded, for offences and infringements involving the conversion of material into digital or electronic form. Memory for Music 1 Memory for Music and the Implications of Expertise for Music Recall: A Review Memory,. for the Recall of Popular Songs: A Comparative Study of Musicians and N onmusicians Simon MacLachlan A repmi submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the A ward of Bachelor of Arts (Psychology) Honours, Faculty of Computing Health and Science, Edith Cowan University. Submitted May, 2009 I declare that this written assignment is my own work and does not in,clude: (i) material from published sources without proper acknowledgement, or (ii) material copied from the work of other students. USE OF THESIS The Use of Thesis statement is not included in this version of the thesis. COPYRIGHT AND ACCESS DECLARATION I certify that this thesis does not, to the best of my knowledge and belief: (i) Incorporate without acknowledgment any material previously submitted for a degree or diploma in any institution of higher degree or diploma in any institution of higher education; (ii) Contain any material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made in the text of this thesis; or (iii) Contain any defamatory material. (iv) Contain any data that has not been collected in a manner consistent with ethics approval. The Ethics Committee may refer any incidents involving requests for ethics approval after data collection to the relevant Faculty for action. Signed ... Date .... Z. ~:\.Tr:' .. :~.~E. ... ?.-\-.Y.q ......... .. 2</f Tt-l Jv~E. 2D\.:fl Memory for Music u Declaration I certify that this literature review and research project does not incorporate, without acknowledgement, any material previously submitted for a degree or diploma in any institution ofhigher education and that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, it does not contain any material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made in the text. Signature: ,- Date: 2?l1!-l Memory for Music m Acknowledgements I would like to acknowledge the generous help and suppmi of the people who helped with this project: Firstly, a sincere thank you to my supervisor Dr. Craig Speelman for sharing his expertise, time, and suppmi throughout this year. His patience and thoughtful consideration of the subject matter was an asset to the researcher. Secondly,,. thank you to all the participants who gave up their time to take pmi in this project voluntarily. Without your willingness, time and patience, I would not have been able to complete this project. Thank you to my family for your constant encouragement over the last few years. To Sindy, Danielle, Paul and Brett for your continued enthusiasm and participation, and to Danielle for your help in the selection of music tracks, many thanks. A special thank you to Dr. Anne Harris, whose friendship, encouragement and expertise over the past six years has greatly contributed to the enjoyment of my university experience, and who has helped make the completion of this research possible in many ways. For all of this, I am extremely grateful- A La Vida. Finally, thank you Tamara for your patience, enthusiasm and constant encouragement over the course of this research, for your help with the music selection, and for allowing me the time and space to complete this project. Memory for Music IV Table of Contents Section 1: Literature Review Page Title 1 Abstract 2 Introduction 3 Long-te1m Memory and the Phonological loop 5 Memory for Song and the Integration of Text and Melody 6 Factors Implicated in Musical Expertise 12 limate and Environmental Factors li1fluencing Expertise 13 The Effect of Musical Expertise on Memory for Text and Melody 15 Future Research 21 References 23 Guidelines for Contributions by Authors 27 Section 2: Research Report Title 30 Abstract 31 Introduction 32 Methodology 40 Research Design 40 Pmiicipants 40 Materials 41 Procedure 42 Ethics 43 Results 44 Data Screening for Reaction Times 44 Reaction Time Main Analysis 46 Screening of Accuracy 48 Accuracy Main Analysis 49 Discussion 54 Reaction Times 55 Accuracy 57 Limitations of the Cunent Experiment and Directions for Future Research 59 References 61 List of Appendices 64 Appendix A: Pa1iicipant Information Letter 65 Appendix B: Informed Consent Letter 66 Appendix C: BliefMusical Training Questiom1aire 67 Appendix D: De-Briefing Questimmaire 69 Appendix E: Practice Trial Instmctions 70 Appendix F: Song Trial Instmctions 71 Appendix G: Practice Trial Question Sequence 72 Appendix H: Song Excerpt Trial Sequence 73 Appendix I: Song List and Track Length Times 7 4 Memory for Music v Appendix J: List of Songs and Song Selection Frequency 7 5 Appendix K: Average Mean Reaction Times (ms) of Correct Responses for Each Probe Line for Nonmusicians 114 Appendix L: Average Mean Reaction Times (ms) ofCmrect Responses for Each Probe Line for Musicians 115 Appendix M: Accuracy Scores Measured as Percent(%) Correct for Nonmusicians 116 Appendix N: Accuracy Scores Measured as Percent(%) Correct for Musicians 117 Guidelines for Contributions by Authors 118 Memory for Music 1 Memmy for Music and the Implications of Expertise for Music Recall: A Review Simon MacLachlan Memory for Music 2 Memory for Music and the Implications of Expertise for Music Recall: A Review Abstract How people remember music is not only a practical concern for musicians, it also poses an interesting challenge for psychological theory (Wallace, 1994). One question that has often been overlooked is what occurs during the time that elapses between the stimulus onset (hearing music) and the generation of a response (an indication that the song has been remembered). While there is evidence to show that memory for song may be biased in a forward direction (Sibma, 2003), the role of expertise on memory for song may provide a deeper understanding of the nature of our memory for music. This review examined the literature regarding the processes and structures of memory as they relate to musical recall, specifically the role oflong-term and auditory memory, "chunking" mechanisms, rhythm and the integration of text and melody as components of song, with special emphasis on examining the nature of expertise in general and how musical expertise may influence music recall in particular. Author: Simon MacLachlan Supervisor: Dr. Craig Speelman Submitted: March 2009 Memory for Music 3 Memory for Music and the Implications of Expertise for Music Recall: A Review How people remember music is not only a practical concern for musicians, it also poses an interesting challenge for psychological theory (Wallace, 1994). The majority of research on the processes and structure of human memory over the past 40 years has tended to focus on visual tasks and human voice audition (Bartlett & Snelus, 1980; Dowling, 1978; Rubin, 1977). More recently, the focus of studies on music has broadened,. to include the perception of stimulus qualities (such as pitch and melody), attentional processes and skill acquisition, particularly in the area of music performance (Aiello & Sloboda, 1994; Oura & Hatano, 1988; Palmer & Drake, 1997). The study of memory as it relates to music, while it offers an insight into processes of human memmy, has proven difficult for researchers (Wallace & Rubin, 1991). Music is often seen as a specialist discipline requiring skills and competencies not possessed or understood by the researcher (Ericsson & Smith, 1991 ). Further, varying levels of expe1iise across a broad area of music theory and performance on various instruments have yielded broad methodological and statistical data (Bigand, 1997). However, since music plays an inherent role in everyday life and is a natural pari of the human